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Delhi has not only recorded the lowest Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children per woman, but also the highest decline in the TFR in recent years.The Sample Registration System (SRS) report by the Registrar General of India for 2021, released on May 7, stated that Delhi’s TFR was 1.4 in 2021 against 1.9 in 2011, a 26.3% decline.
At 3.0, Bihar registered the highest TRF against the national average of 2.0.
Academics and reproductive health specialists have cited inflation, more women in the workforce, independent decision-making, better maternal and infant health, and infertility as possible reasons for Delhi’s lowest TFR.
Social change
“Earlier, the maternal or paternal family took the family planning decision. But as women are now more empowered and independent, they are able to take decisions independently,” pointed out Praveen K. Pathak, Professor at JNU’s Centre for the Study of Regional Development, who specialises in population health and demographic changes.
Prof. Pathak added that parents wish to produce fewer children as they now feel more confident that their child will survive and remain healthy due to better health care.
Dr. Rashmi Gera, head of the family planning unit at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, also noted similar trends. “Cultural and social change, such as women getting better education and participating more in the workforce, is leading to changes in family planning,” she said.
Dr. Gera said another reason couples are preferring fewer children is that most of them have migrated to Delhi and find it difficult to raise a child without grandparents or relatives.
Late marriage
According to the SRS report, over the years, the city has seen a shift in the fertility cycle with an increase in fertility in the middle age group (30-44) and a decrease in lower age groups (15-29).
In 2011, Delhi’s Age Specific Fertility Rate, the number of women per 1,000 giving birth, in the age group of 20-24 was 139.7, which reduced to 65.4 in 2021.
Niharka Tripathi, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at a Delhi University college whose research focuses on gender and population, cited women’s priority to careers in their twenties and family planning after becoming financially independent as possible reasons for the shift in the fertility cycle.
“Additionally, inflation, nannies or childcare professionals’ fees, and education expenses keep couples away from having more kids,” said Ms. Tripathi.
Better facilities
Anju Sharma, an Accredited Social Health Activist in east Delhi, said she had observed that couples prefer one child due to limited earnings.
“Several women in my locality say that they have one child as they want to give the best care, rather than having two or three children and struggling with expenses,” said Ms. Sharma, who is also tasked with assisting couples in family planning and provide counselling and contraceptive pills.
Sedentary lifestyle
However, Dr. Shama Batra, a gynaecologist at Patel Hospital in Laxmi Nagar, cited infertility due to a sedentary lifestyle as a reason for the low TRF. “Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), infertility due to sedentary lifestyle, long working hours and a higher intake of junk food are now common in cities,” said Dr. Batra.
She said working professionals are choosing to get married in their late thirties, and if they have their first child at 39, they will most likely not try for a second child.
Another gynaecologist, Dr. Surbhi Singh, who works in a private clinic and is head of NGO Sacchi Saheli, noted that stress and pollution, common in cities like Delhi, are also a cause for PCOS. “In recent years, I have noticed many young couples aspiring towards the trend of having no kids primarily due to inflation or infertility,” she added.
Published – May 21, 2025 07:38 pm IST
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